









































Denominational Group Meetings  51

Roman Catholic
By David Kriegh, Chair

GROUP MEMBERSHIP IN ATTENDANCE

 • Sister Rebecca Abel, Catholic Distance University

 • Jennie Bartholomew, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology

	 •	 Vlatka	Božičević,	Catholic	Faculty	of	Theology	(Croatia)

	 •	 Kerrie	Burn,	Catholic	Theological	College	(Australia)

	 •	 Matina	Ćurić,	International	Catholic	Mission	Society	(Germany)

	 •	 Clay-Edward	Dixon,	Graduate	Theological	Union

	 •	 Connor	Flatz,	St.	Joseph’s	Seminary

	 •	 Lois	Guebert,	University	of	St.	Mary	of	the	Lake

 •  Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology 
(recording	secretary)

 • Ann Heinrichs, Catholic Theological Union

	 •	 Barnaby	Hughes

	 •	 James	Humble,	St.	Charles	Borromeo	Seminary

	 •	 Daniel	Kolb,	St.	Meinrad	School	of	Theology	

 • Brother Andrew Kosmowski, University of Dayton

 • Alan Krieger, University of Notre Dame

	 •	 David	Kriegh,	St.	Patrick’s	Seminary	&	University	(group	convener)

	 •	 Patricia	O’Callaghan

	 •	 Ann	Owen,	Sacred	Heart	Seminary	&	School	of	Theology

	 •	 Derek	Rieckens,	St.	Michael’s	Abbey

	 •	 Connie	Song,	Athenaeum	of	Ohio

	 •	 Stephen	Sweeney,	St.	John	Vianney	Theological	Seminary

 • Kris Veldheer, Catholic Theological Union

	 •	 Magdaline	Mungai	Wanjiru

	 •	 Deb	Winarski,	Catholic	Theological	Union



52  ANNUAL YEARBOOK

ANNUAL REPORT
The	ATLA	Roman	Catholic	denominational	group	held	their	annual	
meeting	on	Friday,	June	15,	2018,	in	the	Discovery	conference	room	
at	the	Hyatt	Regency	in	Indianapolis.	As	has	been	the	case	in	meetings	
past,	this	was	truly	a	global	gathering,	with	members	hailing	from	coun-
tries	including	Croatia	and	Australia.	

After	brief	introductions,	we	began	the	meeting	by	revisiting	our	
old	business.	Last	year	in	Atlanta,	I	exhorted	the	group	to	seek	out	
opportunities	for	Catholic-centered	presentations	that	could	be	of	
value	to	the	entire	Association.	I	am	happy	to	report	that	the	group	
responded	strongly,	with	poster	sessions,	discussion	groups,	and	
panels.	Hopefully,	the	other	members	will	be	inspired	to	move	to	the	
front	of	the	room	next	year	and	that	the	topics	we	explored	this	year	
will	serve	as	a	launching	pad	for	new	research	and	presentations.	
Brother	Andrew	Kosmowski	provided	the	group	with	an	update	on	
the	activities	of	the	Catholic	Library	Association	(CLA),	which	will	
hold	their	fall	conference	in	October	with	the	theme	“The	Vocation	of	
Librarianship”.	We	also	continued	to	explore	difficulties	in	the	acces-
sibility	of	l’Osservatore	Romano,	which	lacks	a	comprehensive	online	
presence.	Alan	Krieger	updated	us	on	the	latest	news	from	the	Catho-
lic	Research	Resources	Alliance	(CRRA).	Finally,	we	revisited	the	idea	
of	a	shared	subject	guide	for	Catholic	resources,	which	could	benefit	
the	common	needs	of	our	group’s	members.

Our	new	business	was	primarily	directed	toward	questions	and	
concerns	about	the	merging	of	the	Catholic	Periodical	and	Literature	
Index	(CPLI)	into	the	ATLA	Religion	Database	(RDB).	To	help	with	this	
process,	we	invited	ATLA	Executive	Director	Brenda	Bailey-Hainer	 
and	Director	of	Business	Development	Margot	Lyon	to	the	meeting.	
The	major	issues	raised	were	about	the	metadata	differing	between	
the	two	resources,	particularly	the	vocabularies.	It	was	feared	that	
Catholic	research	would	be	adversely	impacted	by	the	change.	Sugges-
tions	for	enhancements	included	adopting	a	“Catholic	content”	search	
facet	to	promote	Catholic	results	for	Catholic	research,	as	well	as	
the	retention	and	inclusion	of	Catholic	vocabulary	in	the	metadata	
to	keep	Catholic	articles	from	being	“buried”	under	literature	from	
other	traditions.	In	response	to	this,	Brenda	and	Margot	proposed	a	
consistent	reporting	form	to	document	instances	of	wide	variation	in	
search	results	between	the	databases.	A	task	force	of	our	members,	in	



Denominational Group Meetings  53

consultation	with	CLA	leadership,	was	formed	to	receive	input	from	
all	interested	members	of	our	group	through	these	forms	and	relay	
them	to	ATLA	for	analysis.

In	other	new	business,	a	concern	was	raised	that	the	Official	Catho-
lic	Directory	was	moving	content	to	a	website,	and	it	was	unclear	about	
how	that	information	would	be	archived.	Also,	the	group	expressed	
little	interest	in	a	possible	consortium	subscription	to	the	Vatican	
Library	Studi	e	Testi	e-book	collection,	with	most	members	noting	that	
most	of	their	student	populations	could	not	read	the	foreign	languages	
and	the	topics	extended	beyond	a	typical	seminary	curriculum.	Other	
individual	members,	however,	indicated	that	they	may	adopt	it	as	 
individual	subscribers.

Finally,	we	shared	brief	news	and	updates	from	our	institutions.	
Since	this	is	the	group’s	only	face-to-face	meeting	for	the	year,	this	is	a	
great	opportunity	for	us	to	learn	about	the	transitions	of	our	members	
and	the	things	our	institutions	are	doing	to	raise	our	profiles	that	may	
work	well	for	others.

Following	the	meeting,	we	posed	for	a	badly-needed	new	group	
photo,	which	has	since	been	posted	to	our	group’s	website,	and	then	
made	our	way	to	the	Granite	City	Food	and	Brewery	for	our	traditional	
post-meeting	dinner.	I	look	forward	to	seeing	both	new	and	familiar	
faces	when	we	reconvene	in	Vancouver	in	2019!

[First Row, left to right] Patricia O’Callaghan, Magdaline Mungai Wanjiru, Sr. Rebecca 
Abel, Vlatka Božičević, Kerrie Burn, Lois Guebert, [Second Row, left to right] Connie 
Song, Stephen Sweeney, Clay-Edward Dixon, Kris Veldheer, Kathy Harty, Jennie 
Bartholomew, David Kriegh, Ann Owen, [Third Row, left to right] Deb Winarski, Matina 
Curic, Ann Heinrichs, James Humble, Alan Krieger, Connor Flatz, Barnaby Hughes, Derek 
Rieckens, Bro. Andrew Kosmowski



54  ANNUAL YEARBOOK

Below	are	the	minutes	of	our	meeting,	as	recorded	by	Ms.	Kathy	
Harty,	our	recording	secretary.	

ROMAN CATHOLIC DENOMINATIONAL ANNUAL MEETING 
MINUTES
Opening	prayer:		Connor	Flatz
Welcome:	David	Kriegh	(chair)

	 I.	Approval	of	2017	Minutes

	 II.	 Introductions	and	Roll	Call

	 III.	Old	Business

	 A.	Catholic-led	presentations
	 •	 	Many	members	of	the	Catholic	group	stepped	up	in	response	

to	last	year’s	desire	to	have	a	more	Catholic	presence	at	ATLA	
–	thank	you	to	all!

	 B.	CLA	Report	(Br.	Andrew	Kosmowski)
	 •	 	CLA	will	be	hosting	at	session	at	ALA	on	June	23,	from	5-7	pm.	

All are welcome to attend
	 •	 	The	spring	virtual	conference	consisted	of	award	presenta-

tions.
	 •	 	The	fall	conference	will	be	either	Oct.	18	or	19;	theme	is	“The	

Vocation	of	Librarianship”.		If	anyone	has	an	idea	for	confer-
ence	presentation,	please	contact	Br.	Andrew.

	 •	 	The	CPLI/RDB	merger	will	be	discussed	in	further	detail	later	
at	this	meeting.

	 C.	 l’Ossveratore	Romano	(David	Kriegh)
	 •	 	Has	anyone	heard	anything	about	updating	the	availability	of	

the	back	issues,	since	the	CD-ROMS	are	now	too	out	of	date	to	
use?

	 •	 	People	just	seem	to	be	resigned	to	not	having	them	available,	
since	the	group	responsible	is	unresponsive	to	questions	or	
requests.

	 D.	CRRA	Update	(Alan	Krieger)
	 •	 Website:	Catholicresearch.org
	 •	 	Check	out	the	“Links	and	Resources”	tab,	which	includes	

highlighted	collections,	by	and	about	CRRA	subject	guides.



Denominational Group Meetings  55

	 E.	Catholic	Subject	Guide	Update	(David	Kriegh)
 •  This has been envisioned as a way to share the Catholic 

subject-area	LibGuide	that	libraries	have	created,	or	to	create	
new	ones.	

	 •	 	The	initial	idea	came	from	Brian	Morin	at	Mt.	Angel	Abbey	
Library.

	 •	 	Connor	Flatz	will	coordinate	two	or	three	volunteers	working	
on	particular	topics.

	 •	 	Br.	Andrew	Kosmowski,	James	Humble,	and	Sr.	Rebecca	Abel	
will	look	into	ways	to	host	such	a	resource,	perhaps	CRRA?

	 IV.	New	Business

	 A.	Official	Catholic	Directory	issues	(Kathy	Harty)	
 •  Recently, the indexes have been moved to an online-only 

format.	However,	it	seems	that	only	the	current	year’s	infor-
mation will be available, not the historic content, according to 
phone	calls/emails	received.	This	may	make	research	difficult	
in	the	future.		

	 •	 	Kathy	will	forward	any	email	correspondence	to	Brenda	
Bailey-Hainer	to	see	if	there	is	anything	ATLA	could	do.

	 B.	Vatican	Library	“Studi	e	Testi”	e-book	collection
	 •	 	It	seems	that	this	collection	is	very	specialized	and	is	mainly	

Medieval	in	scope,	based	on	the	Vatican	microfilm	library.	
	 •	 	There	is	a	question	about	its	usability	and	necessity	for	the	

cost.	
	 •	 	Notre	Dame	was	the	only	school	that	expressed	some	interest	

in	it.

	 C.	CPLI /	ATLA RDB	Merger	Discussion
	 •	 	Brenda	Bailey-Hainer	and	Margot	Lyon	were	present	at	the	

discussion	to	hear	the	concerns	of	the	group.		CPLI will exist 
as	a	separate	entity	until	December	31.	It	will	continue	on	
EBSCOHost	as	an	individual	entity	there.		ATLA	is	currently	
working on getting the CPLI content into the RDB.

	 •	 	Papal	and	church	document	types	will	continue	in	RDB, 
although	perhaps	not	arranged	as	conveniently	as	they	had	
been in CPLI	(papal	document	first	by	date,	immediately	
followed	by	commentaries).		



56  ANNUAL YEARBOOK

	 •	 	Some	concerns	have	been	expressed	by	CLA	members	
(passed	along	by	Br.	Andrew)	as	to	the	results	from	compara-
tive	searched	in	CPLI	and	RDB.		It’s	often	found	in	areas	such	
as	the	Eucharist	(as	opposed	to	the	Lord’s	Supper)	or	the	
Immaculate	Conception.	Results	seem	to	be	wildly	different.		

	 •	 	There	was	extensive	discussion	about	possible	options	to	
improve	results	(check-box	in	facets	for	Catholic	journals	or	
content?	CPLI	filter?	Recoding?).		ATLA	will	need	to	see	what	
some	results	are	in	order	to	develop	some	sort	of	solution.

	 •	 	CLA	and	ATLA	RC	members	are	asked	to	put	CPLI	and	ATLA	
through	some	intensive	searching	and	testing	to	gather	
results	for	comparison.

	 •	 	A	task	force	consisting	of	Connor	Flatz,	Daniel	Kolb,	and	
someone	from	CLA	will	gather	the	results	of	searches	to	pass	
them	along	to	ATLA.		This	task	force	will	work	with	Margot	
Lyon	on	this.

	 •	 	Requests	for	titles	and	indexes	can	be	sent	to	Support	at	ATLA.
	 •	 	Brenda	is	willing	to	meet	virtually	with	CLA	to	discuss	solu-

tions.

	V.	News	From	Members

University of St. Mary of the Lake (Mundelein): Chris Rogers is the 
new	library	director.

St. John Vianney, Denver: Their	cataloger	has	retired;	have	
started	a	book	club.

Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology: They are hosting an 
international	symposium	on	the	intellectual	“chops”	of	Pope	
Francis	Oct	8-11.

Closing	Prayer:	Connie	Song


	Preface
	committee reports
	Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
	Conference Committee
	Endowment Committee
	Professional Development Committee

	Task Forcereports
	International Theological Librarian Education
	Scholarly Communication

	Interest Group Reports
	Public Services
	Special Collections 
	Technical Services 
	World Religions 

	denominational Group reports
	Anabaptist Mennonite
	Anglican/Episcopal
	Baptist
	Campbell-Stone
	Lutheran 
	Methodist
	Orthodox
	Presbyterian and Reformed Librarians
	Roman Catholic

	memorials
	Officers of ATLA (1947–2018)
	ATLA Organizational Directory (2017–2018)
	ATLA Member Directory (2017–2018)
	historical Annual conferences
	AMENDED AND RESTATED BYLAWS OF AMERICAN THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
	2017 ATS Library Statistics

